At least 2,000 students are suspected of being hit by the A/H1N1 influenza in Washington State University (WSU) in the northwest of the United States, the university said on Friday.

"We estimate that we have been in contact with about 2,000 students with influenza-like illness in the first ten days of our fall semester. At this time of year, we would typically only see a handful of patients with influenza-like illness," WSU Health and Wellness Services said in a latest posting on the university's A/H1N1 information blog.

The university noted that it has no way of estimating the additional numbers of sick students who are handled by healthcare providers in the local community or are self-caring at home.

The overwhelming majority of sick students have had mild symptoms and are usually better in three to five days, and none of the students has yet required hospitalization.

The university has distributed about 200 flu self-care kits for students and is planning to hand out 1,000 more.

Students not severely ill are encouraged to self-care at home and to isolate themselves as much as possible in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus, the university said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2009)